Well the SW team went 1 and 1 tonight. They beat the Midwest team and lost in the final minute to the Southeast team (undefeated in Gridiron history) 20 to 19. SW was up 19-6 at one point. The game tomorrow is what will be shown on ESPNU on Monday. No cameras were rolling tonight.
In terms of individual performers....
I have to start with Darion Monroe. The first play of the night there was a mix-up in coverage it appeared between him and Corey Thompson. Outside of the first play, I don't think he had a single pass completed to his man all night. He primarily played man in bump and run coverage. He's got some major ups and batted down 5-6 passes. The SE team tried him out on the fade route in the end zone a few times. All were unsuccessful. He also had a couple of balls that were very close to interceptions.
Matt Davis had some streaks tonight. The first game the SW team couldn't get a first down. The MW team took the ball on the first play for 50-60 yards on a bomb that was a mix-up between Monroe and Thompson. They scored a couple of plays later. I guess that is what Matt needed. He came out a changed man after that and dominated the remainder of the game. He seemed more comfortable rolling to his right (even though there's no rush in 7-on-7). It was part of the play design. I don't recall him rolling to his left. He had a nice command of his passes. The short stuff were easily catchable balls. The goal line slants were lasers. The long balls were all on the money. At no point did he over throw the long pass, nor did he under throw it. Literally, 100% were on target. The second game he picked up where he left off. Marched right down the field on the SE. He did hit a dry spell and under threw and threw behind some receivers (could have been some route confusion). With a 6 point lead and about 3 minutes left in the game he threw an interception on the 5 yard line. The DB takes off with 95 yards in front of him and Matt walks him down around the 40 yard line. I couldn't believe he could move that fast.
Bralon Addison was in for probably 85-90% of the plays. He caught most everything that came his way, but his biggest highlight of the night was a tipped ball on a crucial 4th down during the last drive of the SE game. The ball was tipped in the middle of the field and he ran under it to pick up the first down and save the drive.
Corey Thompson is huge. I had no idea that someone that big could move that fast. Which reminds me that I wasn't too impressed with Tim Cole. I can't recall him making a single tackle/touch. He primarily dropped back into cover 2 and offered support for the DB(s) on his side. The defensive play of the night easily belonged to Corey. A deep fade ball he positioned himself perfectly to climb the ladder and intercept what would have been about a 50 yard pass. He intercepted the SE QB to end the drive shortly before halftime of the SE game.
Last but certainly not least was Trey Williams. I simply love watching this guy run. His cuts and change of direction are unbelievable. His highlight of the night was a short pass that he turned into a touchdown during the MW game. I got some great shots of him on the run, but I stopped with the pics after he scored. I missed the touchdown dance as a result. He danced for about 5 seconds. The ref critiqued and told him he thought he could do better. The refs were just there to have fun too. It was a great atmosphere and guys had a blast. That is until 1:30 left in the game with no timeouts and no way to stop the clock after being behind for the first time since the first drive of the MW game.
I've got tons of pics that I'll put up tonight and will post the link here. The action shots are much better than practice this morning. On a final note, I talked to Bralon Addison's dad for a few minutes while walking to the field. He asked me about the pics from this morning. I was shocked that he'd seen them. He was such a friendly and down to earth guy, it's no wonder Bralon turned out the way he did.
In terms of individual performers....
I have to start with Darion Monroe. The first play of the night there was a mix-up in coverage it appeared between him and Corey Thompson. Outside of the first play, I don't think he had a single pass completed to his man all night. He primarily played man in bump and run coverage. He's got some major ups and batted down 5-6 passes. The SE team tried him out on the fade route in the end zone a few times. All were unsuccessful. He also had a couple of balls that were very close to interceptions.
Matt Davis had some streaks tonight. The first game the SW team couldn't get a first down. The MW team took the ball on the first play for 50-60 yards on a bomb that was a mix-up between Monroe and Thompson. They scored a couple of plays later. I guess that is what Matt needed. He came out a changed man after that and dominated the remainder of the game. He seemed more comfortable rolling to his right (even though there's no rush in 7-on-7). It was part of the play design. I don't recall him rolling to his left. He had a nice command of his passes. The short stuff were easily catchable balls. The goal line slants were lasers. The long balls were all on the money. At no point did he over throw the long pass, nor did he under throw it. Literally, 100% were on target. The second game he picked up where he left off. Marched right down the field on the SE. He did hit a dry spell and under threw and threw behind some receivers (could have been some route confusion). With a 6 point lead and about 3 minutes left in the game he threw an interception on the 5 yard line. The DB takes off with 95 yards in front of him and Matt walks him down around the 40 yard line. I couldn't believe he could move that fast.
Bralon Addison was in for probably 85-90% of the plays. He caught most everything that came his way, but his biggest highlight of the night was a tipped ball on a crucial 4th down during the last drive of the SE game. The ball was tipped in the middle of the field and he ran under it to pick up the first down and save the drive.
Corey Thompson is huge. I had no idea that someone that big could move that fast. Which reminds me that I wasn't too impressed with Tim Cole. I can't recall him making a single tackle/touch. He primarily dropped back into cover 2 and offered support for the DB(s) on his side. The defensive play of the night easily belonged to Corey. A deep fade ball he positioned himself perfectly to climb the ladder and intercept what would have been about a 50 yard pass. He intercepted the SE QB to end the drive shortly before halftime of the SE game.
Last but certainly not least was Trey Williams. I simply love watching this guy run. His cuts and change of direction are unbelievable. His highlight of the night was a short pass that he turned into a touchdown during the MW game. I got some great shots of him on the run, but I stopped with the pics after he scored. I missed the touchdown dance as a result. He danced for about 5 seconds. The ref critiqued and told him he thought he could do better. The refs were just there to have fun too. It was a great atmosphere and guys had a blast. That is until 1:30 left in the game with no timeouts and no way to stop the clock after being behind for the first time since the first drive of the MW game.
I've got tons of pics that I'll put up tonight and will post the link here. The action shots are much better than practice this morning. On a final note, I talked to Bralon Addison's dad for a few minutes while walking to the field. He asked me about the pics from this morning. I was shocked that he'd seen them. He was such a friendly and down to earth guy, it's no wonder Bralon turned out the way he did.
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